Looking at the cover of this book, which features a large close up photograph of Kate Bush's face one could be forgiven for thinking that this book is a biography of the singer that has often been dubbed "one of Britain's most eccentric pop stars". In fact Waiting For Kate Bush is not a biography at all, although it is packed full of so much personal information about the singer that it does serve as one, in a roundabout way. This is instead a bizarre story of one mans obsession with Ms Bush written by John Mendelssohn and told through the character that he has created in Lesley Herskovits. It is a fictional story that is packed full of facts and provides an unique insight into the life of one of the pop world's most elusive stars.
Lesley Herskovits is a fifty something American who is so obsessed with Kate Bush that he has abandoned his native California and moved into a guesthouse in Kent, to be close to where the
singer spent much of her childhood at the family farm in East Wickham. Lesley has lived at the guesthouse for many years and the house is owned by another Kate Bush fan called Mrs Cavanaugh. All along the way we are introduced to other Kate Bush fans, but when it comes to Kate Bush, Lesley Herskovits is in a league of his own.
Lesley Herskovits was once an underwear model and a pin up across America, he had the pick of the most beautiful women to date and he excelled at sports. But deep down inside he loathed himself , he always treated his girlfriends badly and no matter how good he was at sport he was the only boy in his class that could not climb to the top of the pole in physical education. Lesley Herskovits is a man that wallows in self loathing, he hates himself and over the years, even though his good looks have not left him he sees himself as a grotesquely obese figure. Throughout all of his self loathing the one thing that keeps him going is love for Kate, but the fact that she has so cruelly kept him waiting for so long since her last album pushes him into a deep depression, where he contemplates suicide and as he sits on top of one the one the tallest buildings in town he might just carry it through.
This is a compelling story about a mans obsession. We read about flashbacks of his early childhood and how he was bullied at school. These stories help to paint a vivid picture of the messed up man that we find today. Lesley is not an insane stalker in the conventional sense. Instead he showers his heroine with gifts, spending over £2,000 in a single year and he bombards her with emails, and he dissects every lyric that she has ever written trying to find out more about the inner, private Kate that the rest of the world so rarely sees. By his own admission the folder that he created on his computer entitled "Emails sent to Kate" contains over 2000 separate emails, whilst the one that he has created entitled "Emails received from Kate" remains empty.
Despite its somewhat strange topic I found Waiting For Kate to be a fascinating read. I think that this book would be enjoyed by anyone that loves to get deep inside the mind of a mixed up character, but of course it will hold an even greater appeal to anyone that has even a remote interest in Kate Bush.
In places the story is incredibly sad but at other times it is humorous too. I was particularly amused by some of the antics that revolved around Lesley's frequent trips to Overeaters Anonymous. It is also a very up to date story and sees Lesley's addictive personality leading also, though on a lesser degree than his obsession with Kate Bush, to an unhealthy interest in a TV talent show which is so obviously based upon the X-factor style shows. This show entitled "Megastar" catapults his landlady Mrs Cavanaugh's anorexic daughter into the spotlight when she enjoys success on the show.
The book is broken down into 29 different chapters making it nice and easy to read. I found this to be a very unusual book in many ways but it was very well written by a person who obviously has a vast insight into Kate Bush. I couldn't help wondering though just what Kate herself might make of the book.
Highly entertaining and recommended.
278 pages ISBN 1-84449-489-6 Published 2004
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